U.K. ALBUMS CHART TO COUNT VIDEO STREAMS

The U.K.’s Official Albums Chart will include video streams for the first time starting in January, according to a report in Music Week.

Video streams, which account for 6.7% of the total U.K. streaming market, will be counted the same as audio streams. Video streams have been incorporated into the singles chart since July 2018.

Per Official Charts Chair (and Sony Music Director of Commercial Analytics) Charlotte De Burgh-Holder, the move is in line with the evolution of the music market and the way success is measured. "The Official Charts addition of video to the albums chart reflects its dedication to always having the clearest picture of how the U.K. consumes its favorite music," she said.

Here's how the math works: Streams of an album’s 16 top tracks are combined with the two most popular tracks neutralized to the average of the next 14. Then, total streams are divided by 1k to create one album stream. Got it? This aims to ensure that viral videos don't skew the chart by grossly inflating an album's overall sales.

In other news, the sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side. Or so we've heard.